The task of identifying items that come in standard packaging, such as groceries or the like, is known to present difficulties to individuals who have visual impairments. While individuals without visual impairments may read all or a portion of a textual description posted on an item of interest, an inability to read (or, at least, a difficulty in reading) such a textual description makes it very hard for a visually impaired individual to discriminate between items that come in standard packaging. For example, it is difficult for a visually impaired individual to discriminate between a can of chicken soup and a can of vegetable soup, given that both cans may have similar tactile attributes (e.g., size, shape, weight, etc.), as well as similar audible attributes (e.g., the sound of shifting liquid).
One typical solution to this problem is to attach a Braille label to such an item such that the visually impaired individual can identify the item by translating the Braille label via touch. However, assuming one is properly trained to do so, translating a Braille label can be time consuming. Also, such an approach requires that all items that the visually impaired individual may seek to later identify be previously fitted with an appropriate Braille label. For grocery items that are in standard packaging, this is not always practical.
A device known as “Aloud” has been proposed for providing an individual with spoken dosage information for medicine contained in a prescription bottle to which it is attached. However, the device does not provide a way for the user to originally record a spoken description of his/her choice, nor does it provide a solution for use in marking and later identifying items having a wide variety of packaging types, particularly items that come in standard packaging like grocery items.
Thus, there is a need for techniques that allow visually impaired individuals to mark and later identify items which do not rely on Braille labels and which are more practical for use with items that come in standard packaging.